cau

See also: câu, cầu, cấu, cẩu, čau, cậu, and ĉaŭ

Translingual

Symbol

cau

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Caucasian languages.

Asturian

Noun

cau m (plural caos)

1. Alternative spelling of cabu

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈkaw]
• Rhymes: -aw

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin cavum, cavus, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówHwos (“cavity”).

Noun

cau m (plural caus)

1. den; burrow; lair
2. (by extension) hiding place
3. (figuratively) sty; hovel

Derived terms

• a cau d'orella

Related terms

• cavar
• cavitat
• còncau
• excavar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cau

1. inflection of caure:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Chinese

Etymology

From clipping of English caution.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ko¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ko¹
    • Yale: kō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ko¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ko¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɔː⁵⁵/

Verb

cau

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to caution (especially in a legal process)

Derived terms

• cau文

 

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Kanakanabu

Etymology

From Proto-Austronesian *Cau. Cognates with Tagalog tao, Cebuano tawo.

Noun

cau

1. person

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin cavus.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Gascony):

  (file)

Adjective

cau m (feminine singular cava, masculine plural caus, feminine plural cavas)

1. hollow

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ka(ː)w˧˧]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *kaw.

Noun

(classifier cây, trái) cau • (榚, 槁, 槔, 橰, 构)

1. areca

   Synonym: nang

Derived terms

• trầu cau

Etymology 2

Verb

cau • (皋, 皐, 󰎹)

1. to frown

Derived terms

• cau có

Welsh

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *kageti, from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- (“catch, grasp”) (compare Oscan 𐌊𐌀𐌇𐌀𐌃 (kahad, “may he take”), Albanian kam (“to have, hold”).

Alternative forms

• caeu (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /kaɨ̯/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /kai̯/
• Rhymes: -aɨ̯

Verb

cau (first-person singular present caeaf)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to close, shut
2. (transitive) to fasten
3. (intransitive) to heal, to close

Conjugation

Conjugation (literary)

	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	caeaf	caei	cae	caewn	caewch	caeant	caeir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/ conditional	caewn	caeit	caeai	caeem	caeech	caeent	caeid
preterite	caeais	caeaist	caeodd	caeasom	caeasoch	caeasant	caewyd
pluperfect	caeaswn	caeasit	caeasai	caeasem	caeasech	caeasent	caeasid, caeesid
present subjunctive	caewyf	caeych	caeo	caeom	caeoch	caeont	caeer
imperative	—	cau, caea	caeed	caewn	caewch	caeent	caeer
verbal noun	cau
verbal adjectives	caeedig caeadwy

Conjugation (colloquial)

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	caea i, caeaf i	caei di	caeith o/e/hi, caeiff e/hi	caewn ni	caewch chi	caean nhw
conditional	caewn i, caeswn i	caeet ti, caeset ti	caeai fo/fe/hi, caesai fo/fe/hi	caeen ni, caesen ni	caeech chi, caesech chi	caeen nhw, caesen nhw
preterite	caeais i, caees i	caeaist ti, caeest ti	caeodd o/e/hi	caeon ni	caeoch chi	caeon nhw
imperative	—	caea	—	—	caewch	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Antonyms

• agor

Derived terms

• adeg cau (“closing time”)
• ar gau (“closed, shut”)
• cau am (“to enclose, to encircle”)
• cau ceg (“to keep quiet”)
• cau llygaid ar (“to turn a blind eye”)
• dyddiad cau (“closing date”)

Related terms

• cae (“enclosure, field”)
• caer (“castle, hold”)

Etymology 2

From Middle Welsh keu, from Proto-Brythonic *kaw (whence Breton kev), from Proto-Celtic *kawyos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”). Cognate with Irish cuas, Latin cavus.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /kaɨ̯/
• (South Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /kai̯/
  • (South Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /kɔi̯/

Adjective

cau (feminine singular cau, plural ceuon, equative ceued, comparative ceuach, superlative ceuaf)

1. hollow, empty, sunken
2. (figuratively) false, deceitful
3. enclosing; shut, closed

Antonyms

• solet (“solid”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of cau

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cau	gau	nghau	chau

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.